hobg & gpRlNGF Volume 23, Number 2 Bypc BY SUSAN USHER A bypass around Shallotte ranks at the top of the county's list of road priorities delegates will present at a division-wide public hearing on transportation needs today (Thursday) in Jacksonville. i ne Division 3 meeting Begins wltn registration at 1 p.m. at the Municipal Building. The full Shallotte Board of Aldermen, representatives of the county's two chambers of commerce, Rep. David Redwine, County Planner John Harvey, County Planning Board Chairman Ed Gore, County Commission Vice-Chairman Jim Poole and political party officials are among those planning to attend from Brunswick County. The group is attempting to present a unified set of priorities to the state, with the hope of influencing the state board's expenditures in Brunswick County. It will work out details on the list. Second on the county's list is completion of the- four-laning of U.S. 17 from Bell Swamp fN.C. 87) to Supply (N.C. 211), followed by the segment from Supply to the South Carolina state line. At this point the county's usi wiu aeviaie a seconu ume irv::: the recommendations of the planning board. The county planning board, meeting last Wednesday night, proposed as the county's top priority the four-laning from Supply to the state line, including the bypass rather than breaking it out as a separate project. When Commissioner Frankie Rabon questioned that arrangement Face Lifts For Park, Boy Scout William (Willie) Norton of Shallotte Troop 287 plans to spend a large chunk of his summer In Shallotte Municipal Park, giving one corner a new look as he works toward his Eagle rank. In the opposite Corner of the park, several local organizations hope tc bring new life to the Sunnyside school building as well. Norton received permission frorr an enthusiastic board of aldermer last Wednesday night to undertake the beautification project, but musi still obtain approval from a Cape Fear Council Eagle project review board in June. To qualify toward the Eagle rank Norton must organize and carry ou the entire project, including super vising the Scout that plans to assis him. At his own expense Norton, 15, pro poses to enclose a 45-feet by 50-fee area with low wooden fencing. see< grass and water it until established plant 10 azaleas and seven red tips build a picnic table and clean up thi general area, including weeding thi ditch. He expects the project to taki at least SO to GO hours to complete. Murde BY TERRY POPE A Superior Court judge ruled Mori day that the first-degree murder tna of James R. Stamper. 12. charged ii the stabbing death of a Long Bead resident, will be heard in Brunswicl County. Stamper's attorneys. Bill Kairie; and Steoben Yount of Southoort. flkei four motions Monday relating to th case prior to an arraignment Your asked Judge B Craig Ellis to eithe IraruJer the truil to another judicva (hstnct or ad)ouung county hecaus newspaper accounts of the murde "has made It difficult to obtain a fai and impartial trial" locally. Ycunt presented copies of Iocs press coverage of the Feb. T murde to Judge Ellis, most notabl coverage provided to the public b ?oTbook >qrt "i 49284 8 Shallotte, Nor iss Tops ( Monday night. County Planner John Harvey said it was written that way as a reflection of action taken by the previous board of commissioners. The idea, added Chairman Chris Chappell, is to draw northbound traffic from Myrtle Beach, S.C., into Brunswick County rather than losing it to Interstate 95, and to accommodate traffic entering the area from S.C. 9. But, he said, agreeing to changes proposed by Rabon, "It doesn't matter. That group's (the State Board of Transportation) is going to do what they see fit. They're going to set their priorities and we're going to have to accept it." The top ranking as adopted reflects tlie state's intent as outlined by Transportation Commissioner Tommy Pollard last week. It also reflects resolutions adopted last summer by the towns of Shallotte, Ocean Isle Beach, Sunset Beach, Calabash and Holden Beach, the South Brunswick Islands Chamber of Commerce and the Brunswick County Board of Commissioners. The resolutions asked thai the bypass be broken oui as a separate project and completed "immediately aiiu expeditiously." No Delays An informal U.S. 17-bypass coalition had first planned to ask the state to move the entire SudoIv-S.C. see ment up, but was told that would delay the entire four-Ian ing project. > Engineering work and acquisition of right-of-way has begun on the Bell Swamp-Supply segment, and 25 percent of the right-of-way has been obIn Offing Sunnyside i He will pay the estimated $100 exI pense from money he earned last i summer and fall, mowing lawns. Norton stands to become the first I Eagle Scout in Troop 287, sponsored by the Shallotte American legion Post Before it went inactive Troop ? 506, sponsored a number of years ago 1 by the legion post, had at least seven Scouts to attain Eagle rank in 1963. i They included Jimmy and Chris Mari shall, David Kedwine, Steve Holden. Samuel G. Moffitt CharlesG. Holden 1 and Ronald Holden. ! The Brunswick County Arts Coun' cil is spearheading the latest effort to make Sunnyside usable. The school , building dates from the early 1900s t and was in continuous use through - the 1971-72 school year, when the old t Shallotte High School closed. It was moved to the park for preservation - and restoration. t President Ouida Hewett said the 1 council would like to see ihe building . used for art exhibitions and as a focal . point in this end erf the county for arts t activities, possibly an arts festival or s "art in the park" program, f "It will probably cost about $10,000 < See PARK. Page I-A) r Trial To the State Port Pilot of Southport, the i- local weekly (or the Oak Island area. I The article that appeared in the ] March 6 issue contained photos of li Stamper handcuffed on the front t page and "very detrimental type quotes." Yount argued. Y Coverage was also provided by the i other two newspapers tn the county . f The Brunswick Beacon and The ' Brunswick Free Press, but those r reports were more general. Yount d said ? Stamper. erf Welch. WVa.. u r chary ed with the first-degree murder 1 of Samuel Allen Mabe, 23. a rehabilitation aide at Ocean Trail J Convalescent Center in Southport r and resident of S ? Mth Street ui y Long Beach The suspect was aff rested the same day of the murder by f '4tQ SUPPLEM of JMSWI th Cnrolinn Thurcrlnx/ KKr lounty's \ J r\ HN HARVEY renewed road needs The board rated a bypass around ur-laolng ol U.S. 17, as its top two Under the schedule proposed by Pollard, the Shallotte bypass may be completed several months in advance ol the scheduled completion of the Bolivia bypass. Connie l^edgett of the SouthportOak Island Chamber of Commerce, said four-laning of >U.S. 17 across i 11AJ? hOTOI* UliAM UV4I is? plans (or his a community service lallotte Municipal Park with Mayor Paul Wayne Reeves. The project will ;hest rank In Scouting. In Bruns> case than in any general case. I don't think the burden has been met" Easlev also argued against another motion filed by Stamper's attorneys Monday that would have requested J1.000 from the state for a second psychiatric examination for the suspect Stamper was examined at Dorothea Du Hospital in Raleigh last monui anu was ueserminra u> oe mentally competent to stand trial for murder "I'd like to point out that he's had the psychiatric examination and it's here today." Easley said. Fair ley argued in court Monday that Stamper's evaluation was a 30-minate session before a psychologist who did not make a determination as to what happened | i : < ? - ) IN THIS ISSUE RAO 5c Per Copy 90 Page Dad Prioi North Carolina is the top priority tor Coast Hosts, a coastal tourism promotion group in which she represents the local chamber. Commissioners agreed to Rabon's placement of the fourth and fifth action items: 4) widening of old U.S. 74-76 from near Belville to Old Village Koau to include turn lanes in front of the Wilson Plaza Shopping Center, plus traffic signals; and 5) widening N.C. 133 from the Oak iMHiiu nnuge 10 n.u zu 10 tive lanes, with installation of traffic lights. Beach Road is the SouthportOak Island Chamber of Commerce's top priority, Ms. Ledgett said. But she was concerned that sufficient right-of-way might not be available for five urban (no median) lanes. The planning board had ranked a countywide thoroughfare plan third Two Suspend" Two Shallotte Middle School eighth-graders were suspended from school iast Friday after one student was rushed to the Brunswick Hospital in Suppiy for an apparent drug overdose. According to Assistant Principal William Detrie, one student was taken to the hospital after taking about three tranquilizers supplied by another student. The boy who brought the prescription drugs from hnmo wne 'i.rmwl WMIW r. UJ ku> litu UIC1 IU uiuiiiuvu; police officers for prosecution. He only took a minimum number t '~ i i .?? School Bus J Create Loca BY TERRY POPE A bili that would prohibit schools from hiring people younger than 18 to drive school buses could create problems for the Brunswick County school system, one school official oa<\i iu.n nwrv. State Rep. Alex Hall, D-New Hanover County, recently introduced a bill before the State House that would set the age limit on school bus drivers. The bill was scheduled for debate before the House Highway Safety Committee this week before going to the House floor for a vote. "1 have a feeling we will have a problem in finding all adult drivers," said Bill Turner, Brunswick County schools transportation supervisor, "at least in the first year." Such a bill would not affect student drivers who may already have their bus license from driving for the schools next year; however, it would prohibit students under 18 from seeking a bus license. The bill was introduced last month, amid a flurry of school bus accidents in southeastern North Carolina. A recent school bus accident in Shallotte on May 6 sent 17 Union Primary School students to the Brunswick Hospital for treatment. wick Col to the suspect on the night of the murder. The victim was stabbed 13 times, indicating that "something very unusual must have happened to him i.Stamper) that night to make him lose control of himself," Fairley said. Since first-degree murder carries a possible death sentence, the defendant should be entitled to all evidence possible under taw, Fairley said. It is up to the defendants to prcrve a second psychiatric examination would be profitable to the case "If the state's allegations are true." Fairley said, "then something extremely unusual happened. Your honor, I think 11.000 to find out what happened is rather inexpensive " Kasiey said a second evaluation ,4 fpj" IN TM s Including Supplement -ities on its list, just behind the U.S. li projects, as a means of providing longrange planning for other county road projects. Poole, Harvey, Planning Board Chairman Ed Gore and representatives of the chambers of commerce will work out placement of several items commissioners were uncertain how to treat. For instance, Poole questioned placement of a second Oak Island (8th) below a Sunset Beach Bridge (5th) in priority by the planning board, saying that not everyone at Sunset Beach wants that bridge. The state "sees the need" and has allocated funds for right-of-way acquistion for a high-rise bridge at Sunset, but not construction funds as (See BYPASS, Page2-A) ed For Drugs of pills and was more or less taken to the hospital for observation," Detrie said, "i understand the boy has gone back to Raleigh to stay with his faiher." Detrie said he had heard rumors that the boy was in the intensive care unit all weekend, which was not the case, he added. With Principal Mark Owens at a meeting Friday, Detrie investigated the incident and called in the Shallotte Police Department. "1 looked into the situation as well as I could," Detrie said, "and there were no other students Involved." Bill Could I Problems In that accident, a 16-ycar-oid driver was charged with running a red light and driving a bus without a school bus license. The 19-ycar-uld regular bus driver was charged with allowing an unlicensed person to drive his bus. In Brunswick County, there are approximately ISO to 170 licensed school bus drivers for the schools' 12S yellow school buses, Turner said. About half of those drivers are adults. When members of the Union Primary School Parent Teachers Organization met recently to honor the school's bus drivers, of the 13 present, only four were student drivers. But in the high schools, the numbers are reversed where there are fewer adult drivers available. Thomas Ward, who was recently promoted to the schools' maintenance supervisor, believes the new bill will hurt the county unless pay for bus drivers is "made more attractive." Adults are not going to work on a school bus for a few hours each day because, for many of them, it will be '"more trouble than it is worth," he added. "I think we've got outstanding bus (See BUS, Page J-A) irtroom should be granted only if the results are likely to prove or disprove a (actor in the case Asking the court to grant another examination on a statement Uke." 'What ditto significant?' just Is not enough," he added "It's a question of what comes first, the chicken or the egg'" Fair ley said. "I think it will show * mitigating circumstance." Judge EUi* also refused a motion Monday that wouid have allowed for the defense to receive a list of mitigating factors in the case that is likely to be introduced in the trial by the state Stamper mil face arraignment and trial during the July 23 session of Superior Court or during a special session in June if one is called, Eaiiey said.